My Second Life as a Devil is Wronger Than I Expected
by Haten
Summary: His chuunibyou days are already over, yet after being run over by a car Hikigaya Hachiman will find himself involved in a world full of beings which so far he thought imaginary. However, this world filled with devils, magic and dragons is nothing like he would imagine or like and it's up to him to use his second life as a devil to set things right... Somewhat.
1. Prologue

Youth is a lie. It is nothing but evil.

People don't realize it, but teenage is the cruelest part of a person's life which marks them forever. They even deceive themselves and others by saying things like "High school is really the best period of your life!" or "If you don't enjoy your high school life you'll regret it once you're older!" and although it might seem like I jumped from one subject to the other, the truth is that you spend most of your youth trapped in this education-focused prison called high school, forced to attend at ungodly times to hear some old man speak as if they had figured out the world because he knows how to derivate equations that are many levels superior to what he's teaching us…

The truth lies elsewhere and as people continue to believe that no matter how much they fail or how much and deep they screw up they'll be able to shrug it off just because they are young. Those moments will most likely become nothing but the proof of their youth, the experimenting of their arriving adulthood, a point in which they are neither children nor grown-ups… They are at that stage in which all the evils of the world come from outside, never the inside as they hurt themselves and others without a care in the world. After all, one's short comings are the proof of their teenage years but others' are simply failures and mistakes, nothing more.

For example, these idiots I have in front of me.

"I tell you these chicks are crazy! You understand that, right?! C'mon man give us a hand in here!" A guy wearing glasses was energetically explaining to me why girls attacking him and his friends after being caught peeking while said girls change clothes is totally wrong and nasty and not a normal reaction given they practice a sport like kendo, in which violence is the whole point. Sports-like of course.

"Yeah! It should have been fine to just yell and leave with a warning, right?!" A… Bald? Guy seconded the first. Both were very, very bruised and were speaking a little too clearly for the way their faces apparently tanked most of the blows from the girls' wood swords.

"…You really are lucky Shitori-kaichou is not around." If Kaichou were here in my place what would she say? Well, what would any authority do in this situation? These hormone-filled guys are a potential threat to society. Is this not how rapists come to be? Well, society is at fault too, despite being really good at shunning your regular boy into insolation it doesn't seem to bother doing the same for these potential rapists. Society, this is all your fault "This is not the first time, Motohama, Matsuda. If it weren't me you'd have been expelled by now, you know?"

"…Yes."

"I'm sorry."

"And you-" There as a third person in there. Behind the other two perverts a brown haired guy who was half crying but overall almost completely unscratched by the name of Hyoudou Issei was the only one standing as I was sitting on Kaichou's desk to look more in charge "-Hyoudou, you don't look like you're repenting." C'mon, do your part so we can call it a day. I had no choice but to join Kaichou in helping with the Student Council and every minute I spend in this damn office working is a minute I didn't spend doing nothing.

"But… It's not fair! I didn't get to see anything! Why did they hit me too?!" Hmmm? Isn't the "And it's all your fault!" missing? You aren't going to blame either of them for this? Now that's new to me. Anyone else would have sold his friends in order to get out with his reputation clean of this situation.

Weird.

Gross.

Of course since it's not the first time this guy is in front of me I already knew he wouldn't do such a thing. I know that what he needs is a little push too.

"Well, innocents pay for sinners when they get involved after all." Yup, even I was involved once just because I was nearby when these guys were caught. They probably don't remember it but now the female tennis club hates me for "being a pervert". I bet if it had been a pretty boy like, I don't know, Kiba their reaction would have been totally different.

"No, I did want to peek. It's just unfair that I got hit without seeing a thing." He stopped moaning immediately and replied with a completely straight face.

"…" Now that I think about it, isn't castrating rapists a thing in some countries? Would it be okay to just kick them in the balls and be done with this?

I did… Not put into actions my thoughts.

"It'd be totally fine to call the cops on you for this." Just show me you repent so I can tell you to apologize to the girls dammit! Vita-chan is waiting for me at home! Oh, wait. We're still at school time. My bad, tehee~.

"…Yes." There, finally.

"Okay, go and apologize to the kendo girls. You are dismissed." Working is so energy-consuming, I guess I'll have to take a long and well deserved nap. The teachers probably won't mind.

"Thanks a bunch man!" Said the bald pervert while opening the door.

"I knew you'd understand." The glasses idiot grinned at me while leaving "You're totally a bro!" Oi! I'm not a "bro"! You want to get punished so badly?!

"See you later Hikigaya." The brown haired one raised his hand to me before closing the door behind him "We owe you one."

"Yeah, yeah. Get out of my face already." With a tired sigh I dropped myself on the chair behind the desk of Kaichou's office. It did not weight in my mind that I left such deviants free with such a half-assed scolding.

Although today was peaceful Kuoh Academy is a high tier high school that gathers many people from all around Japan, which in turn makes troubles be spawned quite easily. For one reason or another its prestige is on the level of national academies despite being a school facility from a town lost in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by forest it is a small city that definitively would be overlooked on a map quite easily.

Of course, that only means it's the perfect hideout for someone like Kaichou and me.

Imagine the following: A shadow dances in the night, bathed by the moonlight and guarded by the darkness the sun has left with its departure. A human-looking creature with incredible grace and agility stalks at another creature far more bizarre and horrible which resembles a chimeric nightmare born out of an artist's restless mind. Despite this they are as similar to each other as a person from America would be to someone of Europe. They both are devils, just like Kaichou and I, but one has decided to lose itself to its desires and has discarded, or rather lost, its human-like form. A stray devil.

I remember that time, when Kaichou explained to me the duties of us devils of exterminating our stray counterpart to ensure we are not discovered. I had seen her [Queen] slay the beast almost effortlessly.

Why was I being explained such a basic concept? Well, because I wasn't a devil from the beginning. I was reincarnated into one by Shitori Souna-kaichou into one after I died on my first day of high school after being ran over by a car. Yes, not the best way to go nor the best way to return either. Sun sickness is probably the worst feeling ever and those first days as a devil were hell worse than anything I've ever felt.

And speaking of the devil. The girl I was thinking about opened the door to enter the room. Although her raven black hair was cut short and would seem quite common for the people of Japan, it felt anything but common; her hair had an unreal shine to it, looking as silky as that of an actress or a model. Bright violet eyes that conveyed serenity and cleverness were given even more shine by the pair of glasses adorning her face with the only purpose of concealing her identity. Her slender figure was devoid of any unnecessary fat, and while it is by no means as well rounded as Gremory's, the stylish form of her body made up for it more than enough.

The only thing ruining her image being the ugly school uniform she wears.

Real name Sona Sitri, next heiress of the house of Sitri of the 72 Pillas of the Underworld _and_ the little sister of one of the current four Demon Lords ruling over devilkind. If I hadn't been shown any of these things I'd have thought it was part of the script of a very chuuni light novel.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have work to do?" Ah, yes. The [King] of our peerage is as sweet as always.

"…No? I finished the business with the Pervert Trio." I informed her as she walked toward her chair. I didn't get up immediately, after all it wasn't too long since I sat there.

"Then go to class Hikigaya." She sighed at me with an expression of disbelief painted all over her face "Hiratsuka-sensei told me you fell asleep during her hour today, if you're have time to slack like that then perhaps I should give your some other duties. The Student Council is busy after all."

"…I'm heading to class now." Well, that's a high-class devil for you. Although she appears composed and serious the girl before me is actually an Ojou-sama. I better not forget that since she can most likely kick my ass as easily as Hiratsuka-sensei can.

"Indeed you are." Kaichou nodded her head with a serious expression. Her words are harsh but that's just how she is, too blunt for her own good. In other words impeccable social skill to reduce dumb people into sobbing messes "I'd like to see a better score in math for the next tests."

"Hold on. Are you my mom? Why do I have to present good scores to you?" Seriously woman, don't take mum's job so carelessly! Well, she does resemble her a bit.

"I don't want to have servants with low academic skills. There's an image we have to maintain." Although I raised a complaint against my master, she took my words in stride and replied. This has become a habit already I don't even remember if she minded at first.

"Scores are a social constructs, Kaichou. The number of correct answers in a quiz doesn't show how intelligent you are." Of course, that just means I could be as disrespectful as I would be with anyone else.

"A score doesn't show your level of intelligence, right. Tests are designed to deliver a score which reflects on how much you know about a subject." Going by the pointed look she was giving me and her hands being on her waist it feels like she thinks she's educating me.

"It's pointless if you cheat though." Too bad, I'm vaccinated against that kind of forced education.

"That's why it doesn't show your level of intelligence. It reflects on how ill prepared you are to effectively complete a given task. Be it by cheating, studying or any other mean the higher your scores the better prepared you were for the task at hand. That's about it, right. But we're not looking at the morals of exams but at your academic life. Kuoh Academy is a great school Hikigaya, if your scores are higher, with the backup of the school you finished your studies in… I imagine entering any college you want is possible." Well, this turned into a lecture as expected. Kaichou has become really good at giving those "Take school seriously Hikigaya. Human life is built around education, since you're less than interested in joining Devil society you should at least stick to Human one."

"Not like human society likes me that much anyway…"

"If you search for excuses you won't find solutions, you'll only find excuses." Kind of redundant but I get the point.

"It's not excuses though? I can prove you that social structures are at fault for many modern problems, without going too far in this very school bullying runs rampant in our corridors, and what do teachers do? Turn a blind eye at best and promote it at worst. Don't you think we should be looking at this faulty social structure before trying to fix individuals that were broken by this very system?"

"You must have practiced that little speech of yours a lot since it almost made sense." To her credit, Kaichou actually managed to look surprised.

"Well, for someone who was raised with a completely different common sense it would be weird if it didn't seem like that."

"Indeed, nowhere in the Underworld would you find someone who uses such philosophically rotten arguments just to avoid working."

"Are they any less valid?"

"You're just trying to change the subject. To begin with it's not really a choice. Attend to your classes properly or work at the Student Council, those are the only two pots you can feed from."

"There's never only two options, Kaichou. You don't look this narrow-minded."

"Well, my common sense is that people that can't do anything are trash and they must be shunned and/or exterminated but since we're in the human world I'd rather stick to human common sense. Would you like to be the exception?"

"You don't have to go that far for me Kaichou."

"Hikigaya…" An aura of darkness was released from Kaichou. My master seems to think showing bloodlust when everything else failed is a viable strategy. I mean, it usually works with me but I digress, it shouldn't be considered a strategy at all.

Needless to say, seeing the usually strict yet reasonable Kaichou this pissed off is really scary no matter how many times I see it.

"Okay! Okay! I'll pay attention to my teachers! Just dissolve that spell!" Kaichou's specialty is water magic. That is to say one of the most versatile and dangerous type of magic there is. Added to her ability to shape and control it like a water bender, well, even if she doesn't use a high-tier spell what comes out of her magic circles is painful at the very least.

Of course, it wouldn't be the first time I was hit with a whip made out of water but that's beside the point.

"I see you're becoming wise Hikigaya." Kaichou's stony voice told me I should use my words carefully.

"Cunning is one of my 108 skills after all." A sigh escaped my lungs when she finally dispersed her magic circle.

"If it wasn't you'd be dead by now." Kaichou nodded clinically "If you were half as diligent in your studies as you are in your training you'd be ranked among the honor students."

"Failing a test won't get me killed though." The fantasy-like experience of firing spells and fighting stray devils is most likely what any healthy boy would like to live. Even I can't help but feel excited about magic and stuff… That is, until it begins feel mundane. Fortunately there are a bunch of things that want to kill us out there, so the feeling remains fresh.

"Speaking of getting killed-" If I didn't know Kaichou I'd have thought that sentence was either mockery or irony. It was neither of them "-I heard there were problems with Rias' Bishop. Was it who I'm thinking it was?"

A deep sigh gave out the answer before I even began to speak.

"Yes."

Sona-kaichou answered my sigh with her own.

"What happened?"

"She dissolved his sealing and stuffed the room with garlic."

"Why… Never mind. Was it solved?"

"Yes."

"Good."

One day we'll have to deal with that meddlesome woman. Kaichou and are fully aware but… Let's leave it for some other day.

"It's probably nothing of my business, but perhaps Kaichou should get a new [Queen]. I really can't deal with everything on my own."

"Do you think I'd be able to find someone who could replace Tsubaki?" Huh?

"I'm not saying anything like that." Woah, woah. Easy there, we're at a truce in here. Please let's not step in such delicate subjects "It's just a pain in the ass to deal with work I'm not supposed to."

Kaichou didn't seem that convinced though.

"I'm a loner, the least people the better." I added while shrugging.

"…I have some candidates." Suddenly, the air in my lungs was released and my breathing continued. I didn't notice for how long I held it "More importantly, what do you think of Hyoudou?"

Hyoudou, huh? After Gremory took an interest on the guy it seems Kaichou has grown aware of him as well.

"What do you mean?" Honestly, there's not much to him worth noting. He has below average grades, average looks and an average inheritance. True, he might be a troublemaker but he's not any kind of punk who goes out of his way to cause troubles for others. At the very least he only causes troubles to himself and to girls from time to time.

"So you haven't felt anything coming from him." Coming to her own conclusion she nodded to herself and sighed "It's very faint, but there's something in the boy without doubt. Rias found out first but it might as well be worth it to keep an eye on him."

That tone… Although she's beating around the bush I know what she means.

"I'm kind of busy Kaichou." My words released a wicked smirk on her face… "I'm about to go back to classes… And I'm eagerly looking forward for cram school as well." Could it be…? Did I just dig my own grave…?

No! What a blunder! Turn back in time Hachiman! The Eye of Agamotto is no more?! No way!

"Hooooh… Are you, now?" If I deny it I'll be put to work in following a guy who spends his day imagining what would his life be if he was the main character of a hentai anime or a doujin; while in the other I'll be put to study until I die either of boredom or exhaustion.

Yep, my master is a devil alright.

And also, just like that, I became Hyoudou's stalker.

… _Not._

I tried to come up with various excuses but all were shot down by the crazy prepared Kaichou. Perhaps I was capable of escaping responsibilities in the past, but as Kaichou left her punkdere antics behind she became more and more proficient in seeing through my bullshit.

Well, it's fine. It'd be more troublesome if Hyoudou were to be a riajuu and hanged out with a lot of people and went many places. For the first time I found myself thanking he spends his time hanging around with the other two perverts watching porn in one of their houses… I don't know if that's friendship but just for the record: That's kind of gross.

But aside from those few details my mission was very simple. I simply teleported from place to place to check on him if he was still at his friend's house or if he was back at his already. One might think I'm slacking off, but I can guarantee that nothing happened to him while under my watch. I'm truly such a remarkable fellow.

So why…? No, how…?

How did he end up going out with a fallen angel girl?!

* * *

A/N

If you had followed this story before August 10th of 2018 and don't know what's going on then let me tell you: This is the reupload of the original My Second Life as A Devil Is Wronger Than I Could Have Expected. As I said before, I was inspired to write this story by Sage of Eye's _My Trans-dimensional, Overpowered Protagonist, Harem Comedy is Wrong, As Expected_. If you haven't read it, you **really** should. Also...

 **Disclaimer: My Second Life As A Devil Is Wronger Than I Expected is a fanon story and I don't own either High School DXD nor My Teen Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected. Please support the official release.**


	2. Life 01

Do you know that moment when you have to give bad news and your stomach just contract, turns and feel like it's doing something it shouldn't be (able) doing? For the most part I recall feeling it when I told my parents my bad scores but there were other occasions in which I just spilled out the news without any kind of worry whatsoever. The difference lays in guilt, for the most part it's the guilt of knowing you're directly responsible for the situation at hand what really makes you feel sick while saying bad news. Even the devil I is no different.

Sona-kaichou was sitting in her usual place in the student council room. Have I ever said how much I hate this place? It feels gloomy, there's nothing but desks and bookshelves with nothing but _books_ on them save for the crystal ball laying on the center of one of them. Even Kaichou's desk is not decorated at all. It feels like this is how being a corporate slave is.

What was I talking about? Oh, yeah.

Currently I was reporting to Kaichou, who kept her cool while I was talking.

"Hikigaya-kun." When my report ended, my body dropped to one of the chairs behind me as if exhausted. Kaichou took it as her signal to begin talking "Could you please… Start again?" Huh? "I'm afraid I didn't follow through all that."

Her face looked troubled, no. She looked puzzled at what she just listened.

"According to what Rias said, the fallen angel "Amano Yuuma" Raynare killed Hyoudou by impaling him with a light spear." Kaichou said while shuffling a pen around with the fingers of her right hand. Wow, that's actually kind of cool.

"It was more like a lance, but that's right." Kaichou furrowed her brows at me but didn't retort "It did happen that way."

"And upon seeing Rias' being summoned she ran away."

"Wrong." Really, if I didn't know better I'd think Gremory is a little too self-centered "The fallen was surrounded by all sides and took her escape before confirming Hyoudou was actually dead. Hyoudou did summon Gremory, but when she appeared the crow was long gone."

"Which doesn't make much sense." What? You'll trust your childhood friend more than your own vassal…? You know what? Never mind "If anything Rias' peerage would be the only ones surrounding her but they were doing their devil jobs. By what, exactly, was she surrounded?" Exasperation broke the cool and calculative mask Kaichou was wearing, not minding it a bit she pierced me with her big eyes with a questioning look as if that alone could get all the answers she needed.

But too bad, my poker face is more powerful than any truth spell your eyes might have, Kaichou.

"Maybe I should get to the beginning again." Really, instead of playing guess who she should have let me begin again. She's nervous, I can tell that much. Then she needs to feel in control again "Is that fine?"

"Yes, go ahead." She replied after a long sigh which took a lot of stress into the air.

"So, as you ordered I began following Hyoudou." I could have poked fun of her instructions but decided against it for now "He has established patterns so it wasn't all that difficult, the problem was the day I reported to you."

"Yes, he was approached, lured in even." Kaichou interrupted with haste "Move on."

"Right, but this part is important." Getting impatient can give birth to a lot of misconceptions and troubles, let us keep cool and take a step at a time "I informed Gremory and followed through. The fallen did her best to hide her presence but Toujou was capable of tracking her down. He was given a summoning paper just in case and we both followed through their so called date." In reality I was suppressing a lot of information, like our direct encounter with her or how much time it actually took to track her down. In the end it's always easier said than done.

"I see, Rias did said your borrowed her [Rook] and went after Hyoudou." Well, more like I was borrowed by her to scout troubles for her next servant, but Kaichou is not at enough ease to point that out "Do continue."

"We followed them through… Uh…"

"What's wrong Hikigaya?"

"No, nothing." To be honest this is a bit embarrassing, I'd rather not say it but… "We followed them through _the date_ until later in the evening." Yep, Kaichou seems to be puzzled by my words. It's the truth, I wish I didn't have to see them act all lovely-dovely with Toujou at my side but it happened "They went to a park which at the hour wasn't that crowded."

Man, I'm embarrassed. Hope it doesn't show on my face.

"The one close to the store in where they sell the spicy gummy bears?" Hoh? You remember a place with something like that as hint?

"Yeah, that one." Well, I've been there too. It's not just gummy bears but sweets in general. I send Komachi a pack of treats from time to time from that store after all "The details of what she intended to do are unknown to me. At the moment Toujou detected more presences approaching, so we decided to protect Hyoudou directly."

"You chose to endanger not only yourself but Toujou to a direct confrontation with a fallen angel?" Well, if you put it like that it sounds stupid "For what reason?"

"Believe me, it was a very good reason." Don't look at me like that Kaichou, I'm in fact no a moron. If I could have avoided the situation I'd have done it without fail.

"And what could possibly be this "very good reason" you're talking about?" Wow, bossy much? I'm getting there.

"Youkai."

"Ah, that's what doesn't make sense to me." Kaichou finally sighed "How did we go from a follow mission to repelling invading Youkai? What about the barriers around the city?"

"With all but respect." I interrupted a bit annoyed "If the barriers worked how they are supposed to we wouldn't have to worry about invading fallen running free in town."

"Duly noted." Well, at least she stopped with her annoyance at me "Continue."

"Well, so we showed ourselves to the duo," Using the word "couple" feels uncomfortable and I'd rather avoid it at all cost "There was hostility, insults confusion and a huge commotion. To be honest that moment was like a do or die situation so I don't really recall that well."

At my words Kaichou crossed her arms.

"And then what happened?" She inquired while gulping her own saliva. Is she preparing herself to hear something really serious? Well, it wasn't that big of a deal to the point of having to prepare oneself. She already knows the conclusion after all.

* * *

 **Life 1: Things that go wrong even if set right**

"We're surrounded." Toujou's petite figure was only bigger than her voice, which came out almost as a whisper which could be heard only due to my enhanced senses.

"Say what?!" The fallen angel, who had been hostile until then finally realized our aim, and in a moment of either panic or stupidity she gave us her back "Fuck!"

From the trees as silent as the dead, figures began moving towards us. Only their glowing eyes were noticeable among the shadows that were too thick for the time of the day and that couldn't be distinguished despite our devil senses.

"Youkai." Toujou confirmed with a (cute) nod.

"Hyoudou get behind me." Prioritizing our mission was first, so I yanked the confused pervert behind my back and between me and Toujou.

"You shitty devils! What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Seems like the fallen was thinking the same as us because she leaped back to get near us but without turning her back to the incoming threat "This bug is mine! Don't interfere!"

"This is a bad timing to talk about whose business is whose." I retorted trying to count how many Youkai were approaching.

"Tch!" I heard some movement behind me but since I was still holding on Hyoudou's clothes it felt like it wasn't that relevant "You! Don't get far away from me!"

"Y-Yuuma-chan." Seems like Hyoudou regained his ability to talk. Originally to get him away from the incoming fight Toujou threw him a fair distance. He hit the ground hard so hearing him talking actually made me feel relieved "And Hikigaya, Koneko-chan too… What's… What's going on?" To his credit his panic didn't leave in form of noise but in trembling while speaking.

"Incoming!" I was about to speak, but Toujou's words drove my thoughts to the back seat immediately.

Three pair of wings were released and in a split second we were air bond. I took Hyoudou with me and as our blurring frames got high enough, different spells from all directions were aimed at where we used to be. The magic exploded against each other and a small heat wave was released.

The explosion was too small for the amount of magic fired, I calculated about 20 opponents. They are probably using either Senjutsu or Youjutsu since the firepower is lacking.

Magic began gathering again and I think all of us dodged midair the attack once more.

"Shithead you knocked him out!" The fallen angel yelled angrily. Wait, what? "There's no way a human would endure such movement!"

Turning to see the hand that was holding our target I saw a brown haired pervert making a stupid face but completely unconscious.

"Huh… My bad." Great, now we'll have to carry him around like luggage. Well done, me.

"Ngh!" Toujou drew her wings in and dropped like a speeding projectile while sticking out her leg in a drop kick. The presences scattered and the floor screamed and shook at the immense power released from the petite girl's legs.

"Beginning countermeasures!" I shouted as instructed by Kaichou while activating demonic circles on right palm while making sure to place Hyoudou on my back and hold him with the left.

Toujou's petite from ran rampant on what was left of the park zone, kicking and punching through yukata and samurai-clad people, finally visible to us. Gathering magic I shot demonic power bullets to those who wanted to approach Toujou from her back while dodging midair the occasional spell sent my way and trying to stay moving at all times. Those who were stupid enough to be distracted by my magic or the massive shockwaves released from Toujou were impaled unceremoniously by the fallen's light spe… Light _lances_.

Really, in any other situation I'd be mocking anyone in my position for giving my back to a fallen angel but because of things of life like these, in which two natural enemies find a common ground a moment for mocking and laughter was nowhere to be present.

On another note, why are the attacks rushing to my way so few? Feeling like they were holding back with me… Could it be because I'm holding Hyoudou?

The enemies did not utter a word, as a mysterious mist began covering their frame again.

Not this time!

"Someone hold him!" I threw Hyoudou upwards and readied both of my hands, pouring magic into an even bigger demonic circle I blasted a ball of wind downwards near the crater Toujou created at first. The wind crashed and dispersed Youkai but…

"It's not clearing?" The mist didn't even waver. Could it be an illusion?

"Asshole!" I looked down and saw the fallen holding Hyoudou close to her body. Huh, that happened "What if he had died?!"

It's kind of weird to see this kind of behavior from a crow… Perhaps she's not after his life? Oh, Azazel is known for his fascination for Sacred Gears…

"Hikigaya-senpai! Promote!" That was the loudest I've ever heard toujou speak, somehow she managed to maintain a cute tone.

"Cover me!" As I said that I dropped to the ground using a magic circle appearing on my feet to recreate the impact made by Toujou. As I landed I took from within my clothes a card. It was designed similarly to the summoning pamphlet used to be called for devil jobs but has a different role. It allows me, as a [Pawn] to use promotion without my master's permission "Promotion! Queen!"

After the incident half a year ago I usually carry one of these with me. One simply doesn't know when one will put themselves in danger.

The power coursed through my body, Toujou had blocked attacks directed at me by sending the attackers flying several meters away. As the promotion finished successfully I grinned.

Taking in account Youkai are far better versed in tricks and traps trying to fight like that would be pointless. Although the numbers decreased to about half of the originally estimated 20 we are still just 2, 3 if you count the fallen angels. Toujou has been taking the role of vanguard while the fallen is protecting Hyoudou and supporting even if against her will.

When things get though I'd rather fight alongside the enemy I know, I guess.

Well then, warm up time's over.

Aiming at the groups with more people I detonated three magic spells at the Youkai trying to make it as loud and flashy as possible. The heat was high enough to burn the nearby flora to a crisp but not powerful enough to expand too much.

People tend to forget that with magic the most important thing is not how powerful your spells are, but how much control you have over each of them.

 **MAGIC.**

 **ITS POWER INCREASED.**

 **NOT PARTICULARLY HARMFUL.**

 **SCATTER FORCES.**

The voice felt as they were coming out directly from my mind, they probably are using some kind of spell to confuse my senses. But if they were capable of that sort of things then I'd be under the effects already.

The Youkai moved away from each other but kept themselves in small numbers to prevent Toujou from defeating them individually. Several times they tried to restrain her with their weird sorcery but to no avail.

Gremory got herself such a good piece in the end…

As for me, I changed to use wind bombs to blow away the scattered enemies without having to worry about the terrain. For some reason there are no people coming, could it mean the Youkai are preventing normal people from approaching? In that case let's just attempt to keep the already ruined park from looking like a complete warzone!

" _Eat this."_ Even as I kept throwing spells, the Youkai did not utter a word. Not even when Toujou broke their bones nor when light lances impaled them.

"Shouldn't they have… Run already?" Toujou asked as she leaped to my side.

True, there weren't many to begin with. If they are having reinforcements using their concealing abilities for us to not noticing then we're in troubles until we known exactly how many they are.

"No…" Toujou shook her head and looked straight at the dark clad supernatural beings "We're fighting shadows. Some of them are not… Real." Well damn, if you knew then say so beforehand!

"You shitheads! Get back here and keep on fighting!" I blocked incoming attacks with a magic shield while the fallen angel shouted profanities at us. What a foul mouthed fellow.

Toujou launched herself at the enemy again and threw a midair spinning kick which levelled a fair amount of the floor, throwing dirt and concrete everywhere.

If it weren't because we don't know if we are actually fighting them or not we'd have won. These fellows lack firepower and are weak in general, perhaps scouts for an even bigger army.

That is to say, we can't let them get away.

"Get them together again!" Throwing an order I hoped would be listened to, I took flight again with my devil wings and shot simple demonic bullets to the sides. Trying to narrow the place they have to move is important, while having… "KUHU!"

I landed violently after being kicked near the head. A flying shadowed creature looked down on me ready to fall. Huh, they have flying units… No, of course they have.

Raising my arm to its direction I concentrated in the power I was sending. No magic circle was summoned, and instead a transparent wave was released from the palm of my hand.

"What?!" The shadow dispersed and a woman with bird-like features wearing a light samurai armor was revealed as she stopped her fall with her brownish eagle wings.

I see, so they were using magic of sorts to communicate without us noticing.

"Got you!" With the other hand I shot a ball of demonic power which exploded upon collision. As she fell besides me I used the strength given by my promotion to deliver a kick between the neck and the back which sent her flying and knocking her out cold.

The shadowy creatures stopped in their tracks for a moment. A moment of tension arose.

 **SACRED GEAR.**

Again the voices appeared, surely they wanted us to know they knew. But well, I was ready to reveal it the moment I used it.

A Sacred Gear. A tool created by the God of the Bible bestowed to humans to perform miracles and which for some reason could be carried after turning into a reincarnated devil. I'm such an individual that was born with one attached to my soul. This is why I was worth a grand total of 4 Pawn pieces, it doesn't sound like much in paper but that's half of the total one can get. I'm worth more than a Knight or a Bishop but less than a Rook or a Queen. A nice spot to begin if I say so myself.

Well, it's not like I want to gloat or anything but… I started a year ago.

I punched a blast of demonic power with my Sacred Gear's effects mixed in. Two shadowy figures disappeared altogether and a third one was blown away, stripped off his cover. Immediately a light lance impaled the bear-eared Youkai, sending blood everywhere as the body kept rolling until its momentum died off.

"What the hell…" Augh… My stomach… Fuuuu…!

 _Although I was fighting in a park the smell of blood brought me back to an empty and really big storage room._

"Senpai!" The petite frame of Toujou passed in front of me and her arms took me off the ground as several blasts of Youkai energy landed where I was standing.

"Ngh!" With my concentration blown I simply used the simple effect of my Sacred Gear with my right hand, dissipating the mist around the shadowy figures.

"Huh?!" Another Youkai was stripped off their protection and was impaled mercilessly by the fallen angel. I couldn't help but close my eyes as the gruesome visage of the now-turned-corpse Youkai fell limply on the ground.

"If you have a trick like that then use it from the beginning, stupid!" No, miss crow. You're mistaken. My Sacred Gear is more akin to a trump card, it shouldn't be used recklessly.

Delete Field. A Sacred Gear without physical manifestation, which makes it somewhat tricky to activate. It allows me to release a field or wave which suppressed the opponents' powers. Used correctly I can pretty much get these fellows weaker to the point of being human-like in strength or restrict the use of certain abilities if I turn the effects more specific oriented.

Of course, it drains my energy to work but I've been improving in this year of devil life. This is what Kaichou meant by "diligence".

"I'm taking the illusions off." I told Toujou as she left on stand on my own. She nodded silently and launched herself at the enemy lines. Now then…

With both hands in front of me a ball similar to an underwater bubble began forming and expanding. I released it and as if a fountain the power of Delete Field rained down the battlefield. I felt the opposing power beginning to dissolve, but at the same time the tension of raising defiance as more power was applied to work against the suppressing of their spells.

No matter, Toujou's here for that.

She began smashing down shadows, trashing around the battlefield like a crazed berserk especially aiming at the least responding ones. Hitting those who wanted to protect them aside I could feel the resistance dissipate as the ones casting the spells were knocked out.

"STOP!" An unknown voice leaked from the center of where we began fighting, turning around five Youkai were gathered around Hyoudou… And aiming the weapons at him "I know yer after this human! Surrender or his face will be erased off tis world!"

No, wait… How?

"…!" Even Toujou didn't notice. She was holding herself from simply rushing there to save him, knowing full well she wouldn't make it on time.

"Heh… So much for de…!"

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HIM!" Without even thinking the flying fallen angel impaled the Youkai with a huge light spear. Tearing his body in half the other Youkai recoiled as the spear went clean through their comrade and impacted on the ground with a reverberation of a small earthquake.

"..." I stared in silence.

"…" Toujou dropped her arms in astonishment.

The other Youkai stared at the boy who just had a hole the size of a head opened through his chest.

That boy was Hyoudou.

"NO, SHIT!" The fallen broke the tension and rushed towards the bleeding boy.

"Get away from him!" I used an air black to knock away anyone who could approach the pervert. Using up a big chunk of demonic power to blast the away a very good distance.

What should I do? Fire to cauterize the wound? Yeah, right he's missing almost all of his chest! If I close the wound he'd still have his lungs and ribs missing!

"Shit, shit, shit, shit… SHIT!" The fallen angel took flight and disappeared in the night sky.

"Hiki…Gaya…" This is the worst moment to wake up Hyoudou!

"I… I'm here!" I took the hand he was raising towards me. Think quickly, what should I do? What _can I do?!_ "TOUJOU! GET KAICHOU IN HERE ASAP!" I screamed with my head made a mess.

No way, no way, no way! No! No! No! You're not dying on me goddamnit!

I had ONE JOB!

"Uh… It's pretty… The color of her hair… Isn't it?" Hyoudou said with the last of what he could muster of his life-force.

* * *

"What happened to the remaining Youkai?" Kaichou asked after I finally stopped talking.

"Uh… When I noticed they were already gone." Kaichou sighed at my response with crossed arms.

"I see."

"How's he?" Averting my eyes as to show shame I asked that. Reminding her of my failing to protect Hyoudou was bad enough but still, I wanted to know.

"You saw him, he's taking it pretty well." Kaichou replied with a deadpan.

"I-I guess…" He was nervous during the presentations but I guess that's natural. I too would panic if I was suddenly introduced to the world we're living in now. I wonder, how was my reaction when I got to meet Gremory's group.

"He'll be fine, Rias' got plenty of support from her peerage to educate him and train to become powerful. It seems like he can't handle his newfound powers yet but if he pays attention to his master then this should be resolved in due time." So she says but honestly I've never heard of someone not being able to handle the transformation, aren't the Evil Pieces designed to work with the amount of power needed for each individual?

"It depends." Kaichou answered as if she had read my thoughts "In the case of dormant potential it takes more Evil Pieces than the person in question can handle and so sealing techniques were developed by Ajuka-sama. Just like the card you used to use promotion without my permission." Hmm, makes sense, I guess "Since he's a [Pawn] I'd like you to train with him, due to his character it might come as difficult but please continue to support me on this one." She smiled meekly, obviously not used to this kind of carrot play. Too bad she's kind of beautiful, it still has some power behind it "It'd be good to use Rias' peerage to further train yourself, right?"

Now that was obviously a bluff. Kaichou said "use" but she's expecting me to rely on her friend's minions. I'm a loner so that kind of wordplay feels a little compelling but in the end it's the same as asking me to befriend those guys.

I've known Sona-kaichou for a year already. As one would expect of this magic-filled life we've gotten through a lot of stuff together. Her peerage was like a second family to me and allowed me to grow among their ranks and along them. As a loner I'm probably breaking every single one of my rules by saying this but the time spent with them was time well spent. Looking back at the time I refused to accept my new life it felt kind of ridiculous, all my fears and doubts had vanished or were kept locked tightly in the depths of my heart. It's not like I don't know I'll probably have to bury not only my parents but Komachi as well, and I'll see people age and turn to dust all around me as I continue young and growing powerful… It's just, ever since I opened my eyes still breathing, still existing that was the destiny awaiting for me, one I will never be able to run away from unless I found a way to keep the people around me alive and even then there's no saying if my selfishness would be excuse enough to give them the same fate as mine. I don't have friends, my acquaintances do not go beyond the Occult Research Club and Kaichou's own peerage. I don't have people close to me that I'd shed tears for, in the end I'm a loner that was granted an opportunity to keep on living and to experience what any hot-blooded young man wants to.

Would I rather have it any other way? Of course, without doubt.

Soon enough I came to the conclusion, and was grimly reminded when my first friend outside the supernatural world was lost: This is in no way or form just a show or a manga. Even if reality seems to be turned outside down, it's still reality. People get hurt and fight to their deaths, racism among supernatural being end up in blood sport and mass murder, there's no way to improve yourself but by training, not secret new technique will suddenly be unlocked in your time of need if you don't try to research and understand how your own powers work, you won't suddenly be a master of battle and come up with perfect strategies and be renowned as a genius.

This is real life, at any moment you'll lose your significant others in front of your eyes, your power will fail you when you reach your limitations and a hopeless situation will only be saved by giving up so much in return.

And of course, this is the kind of world Hyoudou has suddenly been pulled into.

"Of course." Under any other circumstances I'd have rejected the very idea, however no matter how I thought about it, it's way better to have more allies than not "I can't guarantee patience though, if he's weak then he better work his ass off or I'll kill him myself."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that." Kaichou snorted at my obviously empty threat, after all she knows I know better than saying things like that seriously "He's worth more than you."

Oof… That hurts Kaichou, my pride just took a chunk of damage for free.

"How many Pawns is her worth?" Still, no harm in asking, right? It's better to know if there's someone I potentially shouldn't piss off in the future.

"Eight. Hyoudou Issei is worth all eight Pawns."

"…" Upon hearing that my thoughts froze. I could go talking about how Kaichou isn't someone to say things just to mock others, nor is she humorous while talking about things like these. I know for a fact that Kaichou was speaking the truth, and the smile that crept on her face indicated that she was aware I was aware of that fact. It also meant she knew my reaction to that truth.

There was no correct way to answer, so I chose not to answer at all.

* * *

A/N

As I said in the prologue, if you've seen this chapter before August 10th of 2018 and don't know why it's different, it's because I began rewriting and reuploading the story, this time around I planned beforehand the rough timeline and how and why things turn out like they do. I know the pacing was slow but well, things should be different from last time. Still, Hachiman's Sacred Gear, his position in and the situation of Sona's peerage remained unchanged, so to those who I answered these questions in PM know that my answer is still the same.

Thanks for putting up with the changes, greetings~


End file.
